Media review of souls and wings
To read some of the book reviews and comments from the readership, please go to the publisher’s web site Editions du Tanka francophone (Click on the title of the book; the English section comes after the French one).manual update: August 3rd 2010
English/French Tanka collection by a French-language poetess
For the first time, in nearly 50 years, a French language woman poet writes a complete collection of tanka (91) which is also offered in English: D’âmes et d’ailes/of souls and wings by Janick Belleau.of souls and wings is introduced with a HERstory of tanka since the 9th century (from Ono no Komachi to Tawara Machi including Jehanne Grandjean, the first Francophone poetess).
Click on either links (tanka or Sappho) for details and the totality of media coverage and comments from the readership.
manual update: August 3rd, 2010
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Tanka
books
2010. of souls and wings
This book, a suite in seven movements containing 91 poems, deals with themes dear to tanka – a Japanese poem of 31 syllables (5-7-5-7-7) arranged, in the West, on five lines: love, family, friendship, travel, aging, loneliness, the beyond. The parallels between the cycles of Nature and life are constant.
With sensitivity, tenderness and sincerity, Janick shares a Life’s journey similar to that of many contemporary women.
of souls and wings is introduced with a HERstory of tanka since the 9th century. Ten poetesses and two women translators are honoured: in ancient Japan, from the era of Heian-kyō (794-1185): Ono no Komachi, Michitsuna’s Mother, Sei Shōnagon, Murasaki Shikibu, and Izumi Shikibu; and from the era of Kamakura (1185-1335): Abutsu-ni.
From 20th c.: Yosano Akiko from Japan; Judith Gautier and Kikou Yamata, two translators from France.
Then, the first French-language tanka poetess, Jehanne Grandjean (1880-1982).
Finally, two contemporary poetesses from Japan, Tawara Machi and Mayu.
Published in both English and French, by Éditions du tanka francophone
2003. Humeur… Sensibility… Alma… – haiku / tanka.
Please, read the details in the Sappho section.
feature articles
2009. On Waka Translation in French
A series of three articles by JB for the Revue du tanka francophone pertaining to the translation of waka / tanka from Japanese into French at the beginning of the XXth century in France:
1st article is related to Judith Gautier and Kikou Yamata’s lifes as women writers. They both translated tanka books from Japan.
2nd article is a review of Kikou Yamata’s book «Sur des lèvres japonaises» («On Japanese Lips» in English). The review is about tanka poets translated by Kikou – among them, Ki no Tsurayuki, Lady Ise, Izumi Shikibu, Akiko Yosano.
3rd article is a comparative study of the translations of «Genji monogatari» (The Tales of Genji); one by Kikou Yamata (1928) and the other by Rene Sieffert (1988). The study concentrates on the nine first chapters (out of 54) of the masterpiece written in the Xth c. by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, the first novel ever written in the world.
2008. (issues 4 & 5) & 2009. (issue 7)
2007. Since 2007
Regular contributor to the only literary magazine dedicated to French Tanka (ancestor of Haiku). Articles focus on some of the greatest Japanese poetesses of the Heian period (794-1185) such as Ono no Komachi and Shikibu Murasaki; and on some of the best XXth century poetesses such as Akiko Yosano and Machi Tawara.
presentations
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